Prosthetic Rehabilitation with Palatal Lift/Augmentation in a Patient with Neurologic/Motor Deficit Due To Cancer Therapy for Chondrosarcoma

This clinical report describes the prosthetic rehabilitation of a 25-year-old man with a history of grade II chondrosarcoma at the skull base who had undergone surgical resection and thereafter developed velopharyngeal incompetency (VPI), dysarthria, and dysphagia. Upon baseline fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), the patient had an atypical pattern of VPI with minimal to no velar lift during speech, blow, or suck tasks, but near complete velar lift and seal during swallowing. A palatal augmentation prosthesis combined with a resilient palatal lift extension was fabricated to enhance speech by displacing the soft palate and to decrease hypernasality, while avoiding interference with bolus transport. A resilient wrought wire extension was necessary to accommodate the velar movement upon swallowing while keeping the integrity of the velar lift during speech. In conclusion, this unique combination prosthesis was able to help the patient's atypical pattern of VPI by improving speech and preserving swallowing function, which was confirmed during a post-endoscopic evaluation.